From Shuddhi to Raees: Bollywood calendar for 2015

Not just this year’s releases, you can even block your calendar for movies to watch in 2015. Indeed, filmmakers have already announced the release dates of some of the most awaited films, a year in advance.

Karan Johar, whose upcoming production, Shuddhi’s cast is yet to be finalised, has however, announced the release date of his film. The filmmaker recently tweeted, “Shuddhi will release on Friday the 25th of December, 2015...the Lead cast will be announced shortly (sic).”

The date for Zoya Akhtar’s yet untitled 2015 film, too, is fixed. The film starring actor Farhan Akhtar, Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra and Anushka Sharma is slated for a June 5, 2015 release.

While Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar are reportedly eyeing the Republic Day weekend (January 23, 2015) to release their respective films, another SRK-starrer, Raees, directed by Rahul Dholakia, is slated for an Eid 2015 release. Diwali 2015, on the other hand, will see the release of Salman Khan’s untitled project with Sooraj Barjatya.

Industry experts say that this trend shows that the Hindi film ­industry is now more organised and planning is done way in advance, to avoid competition.

“Filmmakers have started working backwards. They announce a release date and then work to complete it. It shows how systematic we have become,” says trade expert Taran Adarsh.

“The business of films today is ­limited to weekends, and if many holidays fall in a week, it gives a big boost to the business. Since we have limited national holidays in a year, every filmmaker wants the festival slot,” says trade expert Atul Mohan. “This is being done to avoid a clash between big ­banner films,” he adds.

Amrita Pandey from Disney UTV feels this trend is in favour of both, the makers and the audience. “Today we have more than six to seven movies releasing on different ­weekends. It is, therefore, important to announce films well in advance,” she says.

However, Tanuj Garg of Balaji Motion pictures has a different take. “Only big budget films can be announced a year in advance. Otherwise, makers announce the date only a few months before the release,” he says.